


Rippled Reflection

by shamebucket



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Anal Sex, Doppelganger, M/M, Monster of the Week, Self-cest, ToT: Battle of the Bands, Trick or Treat: Trick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:28:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27004336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shamebucket/pseuds/shamebucket
Summary: Alone in Rhode Island, Mulder goes searching for some answers... and finds more than he was hoping for.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Fox Mulder
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2020





	Rippled Reflection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cher/gifts).



> Work loosely inspired by "Sleep Together" by Garbage.

"It must be a coincidence," Scully had told Mulder. "It's hardly unusual for suspects to come up with... _colorful_ excuses for their behavior once they are taken into custody." 

Mulder knew better. Mulder had a hunch, and he was hardly wrong when it came to those. "Four people in rural Rhode Island all saying that these murders weren't actually done by them, but by someone who looked just like them? All within a two week period? All of them along the Narragansett Bay? I dunno, Scully. That sounds like a pattern to me if I ever heard one." 

Scully sighed through her nose and shook her head. "I... respectfully disagree with your professional opinion," she said, turning back to the stack of papers high on her desk. "I still need to clean up the mess you left in Topeka last week, so if you're going to spend a few days up north, you'll have to do without me." 

Mulder stumbled back and put a hand over his chest. "You wound me, Scully! Can't you leave that to the interns?" Scully raised one well-manicured eyebrow at him. In response, Mulder held up his hands and shrugged. "Well, fine then. I'm heading up there tonight; hopefully I'll be back by the weekend." 

"Don't have too much fun without me," Scully said sardonically, and buried herself back in paperwork. 

Now that Mulder is here, poking around the Sakonnet River after dark, he wonders if Scully might have cursed him with those words. 

It's probably lovely here in the summertime. Tiverton seems like a charming town - the perfect place for tourists to spend a weekend on the beach. But New England autumns roll in quickly, like a dense fog. Mulder shivers as he pulls his coat up around his neck, using a flashlight to illuminate his path. The local police are convinced that this is nothing, and of course they are, because they always are. Mulder's scheduled to meet up with some of the apprehended suspects tomorrow, but he's got a feeling. 

Whoever... or whatever... is at the root of these crimes must still be wandering about. Based on Mulder's calculations, this should be the next town hit by an inexplicable crime. Better to get to the bottom of this before it's too late. 

That said, even though Mulder is determined to get to the bottom of this, it is awfully wet by the shoreline, and he forgot to pack his waterproof boots. Hindsight is 20/20. At least he's walking on a dock now. Maybe he can stop by a department store or something before his appointment at 9... 

Before he gets too deep into thought, he hears a voice coming from behind him. 

"You're up late." 

The cadence and pitch of the voice is intimately familiar. _Too_ familiar. Mulder's heart races in his chest as he turns around and flashes the beam of light into his new friend's face. "Whoa," the man says, raising a hand to shield his eyes, "no need for that. I like being able to see!" 

"Well," Mulder says after a moment, lowering the light just slightly, "I'd like to see who you are. Seems fair, right?" 

The man shrugs and lets his hand fall down to his side. It feels like Mulder is staring into a mirror. Every detail of Mulder's appearance is echoed back on the man standing in front of him, down to the caked sand on his sad, water-logged shoes. Mulder wonders just for a second if it would be considered vain to regard the man in front of him as incredibly handsome, but his own interest and desire overcomes that thought. The man shrugs at Mulder, scrunching his lips to the side. "Here you go. Satisfied?" 

"Not quite." The man regards him with the same curiosity that Mulder feels towards him, tilting his head slightly as Mulder looks him over. "That's a pretty impressive trick you've got there." 

"Not a trick," the man replies. "This is just who I am." He smirks. "You're not afraid?" 

Mulder shakes his head and pockets his flashlight. "No, not really. Should I be?" 

"That would be telling." The man adjusts his tie. "It's not something I'm used to doing. Most people make assumptions about me before I even speak to them, so..." 

"I don't think I'm crazy," Mulder says, finishing the man's implied thought. "I've seen weirder than you." 

The man laughs. "You're funny. And probably a little too gullible." 

"You're real, though, right?" Before he can reply, Mulder takes a step forward. "Hold on. I think I can prove it." 

"I don't know if the Bureau will approve of this," the man says, somewhat bemused. 

"The Bureau doesn't approve of most of the things I do. That's just how it is." Mulder's hand touches the man's cheek. The texture is exactly the same as his own skin - it's like he's touching himself down to the 5 o'clock shadow, except he can't feel the sensation of his fingertips brushing over his face. Still, he can imagine what it feels like, and he shivers at the thought. 

Staring at the man in front of him is wholly different than looking into a mirror, Mulder realizes as he gazes into eyes as grey as his own. Looking at him is far more hypnotic, almost bringing him into a trance. The man's hand reaches out and grazes along Mulder's cheek in turn, as unafraid as Mulder is. 

Mulder isn't sure who leans in first - it's like looking into a mirror, but the angle is all wrong, since the man tilts his head at the opposite angle as they kiss, exploring at first. Mere moments later, Mulder finds himself pressed up against one of the bollards, his doppelgänger's hands mimicking Mulder's. Mulder can feel his own desire just as much as he feels his newfound friend's, electric in the wet air around them. It's intense, and it's so, so incredibly _real_. 

Mulder would be annoyed that he knows that nobody is going to believe him come morning, but the man is tugging at Mulder's belt, and Mulder feels his hands doing the same, willed by some unknown force. Something that comes both from within him and from outside of him. He groans as the man presses him harder against the bollard, his teeth sinking gently into Mulder's lower lip. Mulder is just as fierce in return, squeezing the man's ass and grinding against his thigh. 

This escalated quickly, but Mulder isn't particularly bothered by it. If anything, this is an odd honor. He's always had a fascination with the unknown, and now something unknowable wants to be intimate with him. How can he refuse, especially when he wants this too? 

The man grins at Mulder as he pulls away. The full moon peeks through the clouds, illuminating his face for a brief moment. Mulder thinks the mirror isn't quite as perfect as he originally thought - but then the mist rolls in and covers all imperfections, letting Mulder's mind fill in the blanks. "Wow. I've never met a human who wanted to do this." 

"Looks like we got lucky," Mulder pants, and pulls the man's cock out through his fly. "Had it been someone else..." 

"Who knows what could have happened?" The man stares deeply into Mulder's eyes, fondling Mulder through his trousers. 

Mulder groans and wraps his hand around the other man's cock, moving his hand in exactly the way that he knows he likes. The man seems reacts just the way that Mulder was hoping, with a low moan and a weak thrust against his palm. Mulder kisses along his jawline and squeezes just a bit harder as he strokes him off. 

One thing is a bit different. Mulder's reflection is far wetter than Mulder ever is after a minute or two of stroking. "Turn around," he says, his voice low and raspy. "Please. I want to..." 

Mulder nods and follows the man's command, taking off his belt and roughly shoving down his pants and underwear. The air is so cold, but the body pressed up against his is warm enough that he barely cares. Before he can truly comprehend what is happening, he feels the man's cock nudge against his ass, and then feels it unceremoniously push its way inside. 

Attempting to stifle a cry, Mulder bites onto his hand as the man starts moving. It's intense - there's no guesswork here. The doppelgänger seems to know everything about Mulder, everything he likes, everything that feels good. His hand reaches around and repeats the same movements Mulder recently enacted upon the other, squeezing as his hand slides up and twisting as it rolls down. His thrusts are much more arrhythmic, but even that Mulder finds pleasure in. The unpredictability, the excitement, the lust heavy in the air - these are all things that Mulder loves, all things Mulder craves. It's harried, and Mulder is sure he's going to ache tomorrow, but that's just fine by him. 

Sometimes, the chase is better than the answer. Maybe this is why Mulder can never stop searching. 

When his reflection finally orgasms, Mulder _feels it_ ripple through him, starting in his lower belly and pulsing through his extremities. The sensation tips Mulder over the edge, and he feels himself come into the other man's hand, gasping as it's wrung out of him. A heavy weight presses against his back, pushing Mulder further against the bollard. Mulder sighs, feeling come dripping down his thighs as the other pulls out. His doppelgänger seems to take a moment to catch his breath, but eventually sighs and stands up straight. Mulder hears his pants zip behind him. 

Somewhat reluctantly, Mulder pulls up his pants and turns around. "So, you do this with every person you imitate, or just me?" 

His eyes widen as he looks upon the creature in front of him. He distorts slightly, just for a moment - like Mulder turning around was like throwing a rock inside of a pond, the splash changing the water's shape before it pools back into place. It only takes a few seconds before the man looks back to normal - or, as "normal" as he ever could possibly look. He shrugs. "Nobody's ever expressed interest before, so just you. You feel special now?" 

"A little bit," Mulder admits, giving his mirror a quick grin. "What happens next?" 

"Well..." The man rubs his chin, thinking. "Usually, I just go after what someone's most intimate desire is and try to make it come true. But the strongest wish I feel from you is to understand me, which is... unusual, to say the least." 

"What can I say? I'm an unusual guy." 

The man snorts. "So am I." The moon pierces through the clouds, and the reflection distorts again. It's like Mulder can see right through the surface to see what lies underneath, but his form is shapeless, nameless. "I feel satisfied for now," he says after a moment. "More so than I felt with the others." 

An odd surge of pride courses through Mulder when he hears this. "Think you could go into an early retirement?" He hates the idea of something happening to this creature, even if another part of him knows that it's his job to make sure that he doesn't hurt anyone else. 

"... For now," the mirror says at last. "I think I'm sated for a while, at least." 

"Should I give you my number for when you have an appetite?" Mulder jokes. 

The man laughs and sits on the edge of the dock. "May we meet again, Agent Mulder." Without bothering to take off any of the clothes that are sure to weight him down, Mulder's reflection sinks into the river, and Mulder can only see the ripples in the water as it swims into the deep. 

He scratches the back of his head and takes his flashlight back out again. There's no sign of him, not that he expected to see anything. 

"Well," Mulder mumbles to himself. "Guess I better think of a way to explain this to Scully."


End file.
